South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. (Internet Sales Tax)

[chapjim]

As the result of the above Supreme Court decision, Ebay is now adding sales tax to timeshare rentals -- 5.8% in the case of a rental in Florida.

Don't know if Ebay is adding sales tax to rentals in other states. I suppose they are although Louisiana is the only other state where I have an active listing. Since we are collecting sales tax on top of rental fees, I guess we have to figure out how to remit collections to all the different states we do rentals in. For me in a typical year, that means Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana (and New Orleans has a city tax), and California (although I don't necessarily use Ebay for all of them every year).

 

[vacationhopeful]

And that could be the "kiss of death" to eBay. Next, the taxing craze will expand to every other commodity SOLD on eBay.

Hope Craigslist is included in the states' hunt for MORE revenue dollars on sales taxes. AND the vendors for Income Taxes both State and Federal ... and those cities with separate sales taxes. Abd isn't it currently, if shipped to a different state, the vendor has to collect and forward the 'shipped to' locale's taxes?

Maybe then the bricks & mortar stores will be a bit busier?

 

[vacationhopeful]

And Jim ... thanks for the "HEADS UP".

 

[KossB]

I suspect that either e-Bay is getting it wrong, or that they are calculating the amount of tax in a way that is different that what you think it is. The amount of 5.8% does not make sense for Florida.

According to the Florida Department of Revenue:

"Florida’s 6% state sales tax, plus any applicable discretionary sales surtax, applies to rental charges or room rates paid for the right to use or occupy living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations for rental periods six months or less, often called “transient rental accommodations” or “transient rentals.” Some examples are hotel and motel rooms, condominium units, timeshare resort units, single-family homes, apartments or units in multiple unit structures, mobile homes, beach or vacation houses, campground sites, and trailer or RV parks."

This text comes from an three-page document published online by the Florida Department of Revenue, which you can find at the following link:

floridarevenue.com/Forms_library/current/gt800034.pdf

Based on this, 5.8% would appear to be too low. But if you read the entire text, it goes on to explain that 6% is only the state sales tax, and that cities and counties can add additional tax, which in many cases is collected by the Florida Department of Revenue.

I have sold things on e-Bay, but not recently, and what I sold was tangible goods--not a timeshare rental. So I have no experience with e-Bay in this area. I can only speculate that their system is somehow defaulting to a set of calculations that simply is not correct.

With that being said...

It is possible that e-Bay is not trying to include any city or county local taxes, because that would simply be too complicated, and that they are indeed collecting the required six percent state tax. 5.8% is close to 6%. Is there a cleaning fee, or a resort fee, or a reservation fee, or something else included in the total amount you are collecting, that might not be subject to the Florida tax? If you back out that amount, then maybe they are collecting 6% of the portion that actually represents the rent.

BMK

 

[chapjim]

I suspect that either e-Bay is getting it wrong, or that they are calculating the amount of tax in a way that is different that what you think it is. The amount of 5.8% does not make sense for Florida.

According to the Florida Department of Revenue:

"Florida’s 6% state sales tax, plus any applicable discretionary sales surtax, applies to rental charges or room rates paid for the right to use or occupy living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations for rental periods six months or less, often called “transient rental accommodations” or “transient rentals.” Some examples are hotel and motel rooms, condominium units, timeshare resort units, single-family homes, apartments or units in multiple unit structures, mobile homes, beach or vacation houses, campground sites, and trailer or RV parks."

This text comes from an three-page document published online by the Florida Department of Revenue, which you can find at the following link:

floridarevenue.com/Forms_library/current/gt800034.pdf

Based on this, 5.8% would appear to be too low. But if you read the entire text, it goes on to explain that 6% is only the state sales tax, and that cities and counties can add additional tax, which in many cases is collected by the Florida Department of Revenue.

I have sold things on e-Bay, but not recently, and what I sold was tangible goods--not a timeshare rental. So I have no experience with e-Bay in this area. I can only speculate that their system is somehow defaulting to a set of calculations that simply is not correct.

With that being said...

It is possible that e-Bay is not trying to include any city or county local taxes, because that would simply be too complicated, and that they are indeed collecting the required six percent state tax. 5.8% is close to 6%. Is there a cleaning fee, or a resort fee, or a reservation fee, or something else included in the total amount you are collecting, that might not be subject to the Florida tax? If you back out that amount, then maybe they are collecting 6% of the portion that actually represents the rent.

BMK

They may be doing it wrongly, but they are doing it.

 

[Braindead]

As the result of the above Supreme Court decision, Ebay is now adding sales tax to timeshare rentals -- 5.8% in the case of a rental in Florida.

Don't know if Ebay is adding sales tax to rentals in other states. I suppose they are although Louisiana is the only other state where I have an active listing. Since we are collecting sales tax on top of rental fees, I guess we have to figure out how to remit collections to all the different states we do rentals in. For me in a typical year, that means Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana (and New Orleans has a city tax), and California (although I don't necessarily use Ebay for all of them every year).

Is eBay charging the tax on top of your rental price?
If they are collecting the tax from the renter they will do the filing and pay each state.

 

[rapmarks]

In lee county Florida the tax on short term rentals is 11%, it would not be on the cleaning fee or association fees.